SkyWest
Airlines was established by Ralph Atkin in June of 1972 to
fly passengers between SLC, CDC, and SGU. 256 Passengers served
the first year. SkyWest Airlines signed a marketing agreement
with Western Airlines to operate as Western Express out of
SLC in 1987. In 1987 Delta Air Lines acquired Western Airlines
and SkyWest began Delta Connection operations out of Delta’s
Salt Lake City, Utah hub.
In 1991, SkyWest Airlines became the first business in Southern
Utah to be recognized by the state of Utah for making significant
contributions to the state’s economy and quality of
life. In 1997, SkyWest Airlines signed a marketing agreement
with United Airlines to operate as United Express, adding
hundreds of flights and doubling in size.
Today, SkyWest Airlines is the largest independently operated
regional airline in the United States, flying over 100 Million
Revenue Passenger Miles (RPMs) each month. In total, SkyWest
today provides approximately 1,000 daily flights to over 80
cities across the United States and Canada with a fleet of
79 Embrear Brasilia turboprop aircraft and 65 Canadair Regional
Jets. In 2001, SkyWest carried 6.23 million passengers. Industry
analysts have touted SkyWest as the "fastest growing
regional in the universe."
SkyWest’s
service falls into three main categories:
- Connecting smaller communities with large hubs, providing
easy access to national and international flights for business
and pleasure travelers;
- Providing point to point service for business travelers.
- Allowing Delta and United to provide new service or increased
frequency in markets that would not support additional flights
with larger jets.
SkyWest
Airlines has an aggressive growth plan, which has met with
great approval from industry analysts, stock holders, employees,
passengers, Delta, United, and the communities we serve.
Recent
Awards:
-
April, 2000, SkyWest named the Top Regional
Airline of the year by Professional Pilot Magazine.
- July 9, 2000, Aviation Week & Space
Technology named SkyWest the Best Managed Regional Airline
in the world.
- June of 2001, Aviation Week & Space
Technology named SkyWest the Best Managed Regional Airline
in the world.
- February of 2002, SkyWest was named 2002
Regional Airline of the Year by Air Transport World.
July
of 2002, Airline Business magazine presented the Regional
Airline Leadership award to Skywest.
SkyWest
Airlines started small, but has grown into a top Regional
carrier and one of the most financially sound airlines in
the industry.
